The famous art work “La Blouse Roumaine” by French painter Henri Matisse will go on display from November 21 at the National Museum of Art of Romania (MNAR), interim General Director of the museum, critic Erwin Kessler announced, adding that this “icon of modernity” is the most expensive work ever exhibited in Romania.

Within the exhibition’s concept, the painting serves as a counterpoint to the overarching theme: the ideological function of ethnic identity, conveyed through depictions of figures in the Romanian folk blouse ‘ie’ and traditional Romanian costume. Matisse achieved what Romanian ideology had long aspired to: he elevated the ‘ie’, this emblem of national identity, to a universal symbol- decorative, even commercial in reach, Kessler told AGERPRES.

The National Museum of Art of Romania will present from November 21, 2025 to February 8, 2026 the landmark exhibition titled “RomanIA – the identity representation of folk costume in art,” an event held under the High Patronage of the President of Romania, with the museum’s interim Director Erwin Kessler as curator.

The exhibition unfolds as a sweeping panorama of the artistic journey of the ‘ia’ across various media – painting, sculpture, graphic art, photography, objects, installation, film, music, posters, fashion, stamps, playing cards, vases, banknotes, books, albums, cartoons, and school textbooks. According to MNAR, the curatorial selection traces the evolution of a formal, symbolic, and decorative language – one deeply imbued with ideological resonance. Over centuries, the ‘ia’ and traditional Romanian costume have served not merely as ethnographic motifs, but as potent instruments of social cohesion, political affirmation, and, at times, as a visual assertion of Romanian identity.

The selected items come from the MNAR’s collection, Romanian artists and collectors, as well as from 30 partner museums and institutions.